I have been pondering over 2 Timothy 2:2 lately. Paul states: “The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”
To put this another way, “a truly great teacher lives on in the lives of his students!”
As I think about this idea, several men from church history come to mind. One man stands out clearly: Charles Hodge. Mr. Hodge was educated at the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) and Princeton Theological Seminary. He married the great-granddaughter of Benjamin Franklin.
Mr. Hodge graduated in 1816 from Princeton and became a professor there in 1822. He started the Princeton Review in 1825. He excelled in NT exegesis and didactic theology.
During his lifetime, Mr. Hodge taught more than three thousand students. Thousands of people heard him preach and even more read his words. Most notable of his writings is his three-volume set of Systematic Theology.
I was amazed at a tradition Mr. Hodge started at Seminary graduation in 1868. After the benediction was pronounced, the graduating class made a circle around Charles Hodge at the middle of the front campus. They sang several verses of the hymn, “All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name.” Then, making a tighter circle with each graduate crossing his arms across his chest and grasping the hands of the students on either side, they sang together “Blest Be The Tie That Binds,” followed by the doxology. After Hodge pronounced a benediction, he shook hands with each student, and all went their separate ways to minister the gospel as pastors, missionaries, and church leaders.
Three of Mr. Hodge’s children became pastors, two became faculty members where he taught, and a grandson, C.W. Hodge, Jr. also taught for many years at Princeton Theological Seminary.
Charles Hodge invested his life in his students. I believe he was doing what Jesus commanded His followers to do: make disciples and then invest your life in them.
Think with me about the people in your life and in your sphere of influence—friends, family, co-workers, neighbors. Whom do you believe God has given to you in whom you can invest your life?
“So, my son, throw yourself into this work for Christ. Pass on what you heard from me—the whole congregation saying Amen!— to reliable leaders who are competent to teach others. When the going gets rough, take it on the chin with the rest of us, the way Jesus did. A soldier on duty doesn't get caught up in making deals at the marketplace. He concentrates on carrying out orders. An athlete who refuses to play by the rules will never get anywhere. It's the diligent farmer who gets the produce. Think it over. God will make it all plain.” 2 Timothy 2:1-7 (The Message)
God Bless,
Woody
P.S. A great quote from Charles Hodge is this: “The ultimate ground of faith and knowledge is confidence in God.”
I had the privilege of hearing Dr. Ergun Caner preach in Florida a few years ago. Dr. Caner is president of Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary, and a great writer. Oh, by the way, did I tell you he is a convert from Islam to Christianity?
I was reading his book called, When Worldviews Collide recently and came across a significant insight. He writes that our culture is in chaos. Everywhere you look you see on TV, media, government and in our public schools, the same. Canter writes (page 29), “It is the world in which we live, and it isn’t pretty.
• A culture of victimization: no one is responsible.
• A culture of syncretism: all religions are the same.
• A culture of relativism: all religions are equally true.
• A culture of confrontation: how loudly people state their opinion is more important than the content of their messages.
• A culture of hyphenation: people are invested in movements and causes, based on their subgroup or movement, and they define themselves by this hyphenation.
• A culture of medication: we treat the symptoms but not the core diseases of yearning, guilt and pain.”
Canter calls these thoughts the “modern-day theater of the opinionated.”
When I did graduate work I read H. Richard Niebuhr’s, Christ and Culture. He outlined positions typically held by Christians in regard to culture. He listed:
• Christ above culture: Christians are oblivious to culture around them.
• Christ against culture: Christians take an adversarial stance against anything culture offers.
• Christ of culture: Christians attempt to mimic anything popular in culture.
I believe St. Paul has a better idea on how to deal with our culture (which is very postmodern). In Acts 17:16-21, Paul is deeply imbedded in his culture. He is in the marketplace, and there he offers Christ to common people and philosophers. He was in the real world. He was not running from a fight, nor was he afraid. What did he do with his culture? He gave them this:
• Christ confronting culture: Christians neither hiding from evil nor assimilating it. As Canter, in his book, stated: “Surrounded by sin, Christians confront it and persuade the sinful to come to Christ. This is a believer’s stance. We are not oblivious to culture, nor do we shrink from it. We are not silenced by culture. Instead, we present Christ with every available tool in every possible context.”
Think with me, please. How are we being silenced? In our work, at home, in the church, in our culture, is there anything that prevents you from communicating the good news of the Gospel? If there is, get rid of it. Move on. We are God’s answer to the chaos in our culture. Give them Christ! God will be glorified if you do and Satan will be delighted if you don’t.
God Bless,
Woody Church
P.S. Don’t forget—go and read Acts 17:16-21. The tools for confronting our culture with Christ will leap off the pages of God’s Word!
Goody from Woody
I’ve been thinking a lot lately on the subject of Political Correctness. I have three books on the meaning of words like: Why You Say It, by Webb Garrison; The Jewish Book of Why, by Alfred J. Kolatch; and The Christian Book of Why?, by John C. McCollister. None of these books helped me understand the roots of political correctness.
What comes to your mind when you hear these words? You are probably thinking, like me, of words that are full of PC: tolerance, multiculturalism, diversity, and feminism. Where did the ideas come from?
If you unpack the word tolerance, it means that one person never expresses an opinion or judgment about someone else’s ideas, beliefs, or values from a worldview of biblical Christianity (absolute truth). Does this mean someone demands that we only accept another worldview—anything and everything but that Christian Worldview? Tolerance is not very tolerant of biblical Christianity.
How about diversity? Isn’t that like preaching that homosexuality is just as valid as all other forms of sexuality? If we disagree, we prove that we need sensitivity training and help in being normal.
What about multiculturalism? Isn’t that valuing many cultures? No—it can only mean criticism of our Western culture and our ideas of being a melting pot of people from all the world.
Multiculturalism rebels at the notion that we as a country were founded on a very distinct Christian worldview. Especially troublesome for these folks is the notion of patriotism.
What about feminism? Isn’t that about equal rights for women? No—it is about the destruction of what was once a patriarchal society (all OT and NT thru 1980’s), to matriarchal society. The goal of this group is very anti-family and anti-father. Who has taken the father’s place in this new shift in American culture? The welfare state!!
I have read from dozens of authors—both Christian and not—that believe political correctness is a masking term for cultural Marxism. It is a movement that would rob all of us of our freedoms of speech and all of our other liberties.
How should a Christian respond to political correctness (cultural Marxism)?
The only answer is to follow God’s Word! If God calls homosexuality a sin, we should also. If anything, including feminism tries to destroy our homes and families; we should call it what it is—sin! Call out sensitivity training for what it is—an attempt to destroy freedom of speech and freedom of religion.
If you have time, you might want to find the articles written by William Lind, a history professor who wrote about this topic at www.academia.org. Also, you might want to read Grave Influence, by Brannon Howse. It is extremely helpful.
Lastly, don’t we fight sin with truth? Jesus said in John 8:31-32, “So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, ‘If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.’”
God Bless,
Woody
